Myanmar advocates urge US to place sanctions on bank used by junta

20/11/2024 6:52

        Washington should impose sanctions on a Myanmar bank being used to circumvent existing U.S. restrictions, advocates said, urging the outgoing Biden administration to cut off a key source of foreign currency for the country's military junta.
        
        Dozens of Myanmar civil society groups wrote to the departments of State and the Treasury on Monday calling for the U.S. to block the state-owned Myanma Economic Bank from using the dollar-based financial system and encourage other governments to do the same, according to a letter shared with
        Reuters.
        
        "The military junta depends on foreign banks, jet fuel suppliers, and arms dealers to sustain its crimes against humanity," said Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya, one of the groups that signed the letter.
        
        Myanmar's military overthrew the country's elected leaders in 2021 and launched a bloody crackdown on protests, sparking a civil war that has displaced more than 3.1 million people, according to the U.N.